Lots of laughs and hijinks make this fast-paced series great for readers with a sophisticated funny bone.
Best buddies Hooey and Twig are back, this time competing in a contest to invent something that will make the world a safer place.
Hooey wouldn’t usually find such a challenge particularly interesting, but health-and-safety teacher Miss Troutson is sweetening the pot. The winning design will garner tickets to the local fair. Setting his tale in the fictional English village of Shrimpton, Voake brings to life the silly machinations of Hooey, who always has some sort of half-baked plan, and his gullible pal, Twig. Here, Hooey’s plan involves entering inflatable Tremendous Trousers stuffed with bubble wrap and powered by diet soda and mints into the safety contest. Hooey’s older (and mathematically inclined) brother, Will, has ideas, too, and his scheme to make money off bully Basbo threatens Twig’s life. In the end, Twig dresses as a woman in a pair of his grandmother’s yellow stretch trousers and spews diet soda and mints all over the safety assembly. Seems those TremTrows were not so safe after all. Crazy situations follow Twig and Hooey, and each episode is described in hilarious detail with lively language (“eyes bulged like soft-boiled eggs” or “lit up like two cracked headlights”). Humorous black-and-white illustrations are the ideal foil for this over-the-top buddy tale.
Lots of laughs and hijinks make this fast-paced series great for readers with a sophisticated funny bone. (Chapter book. 7-11)Pub Date: April 22, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6923-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.
Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.
Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Trisha is ready to start at a new school, where no one will know she has dyslexia. At first, she is heartbroken to be in Miss Peterson’s special-ed class, aka, “the junkyard.” But Miss Peterson treats the children as anything but junk, showing them that everyone has a unique talent. Polacco’s trademark style is fully present here; her sensitively drawn alter ego shines with depth of feeling. When bullying occurs, Miss Peterson proves her students are worthwhile by planning a junkyard field trip, where they find valuable objects to be used in exciting ways. Trisha’s group repairs a plane, and the class buys an engine for it. Then a beloved class member dies, and the children must find a way to honor him. While the plot meanders somewhat, the characters are appealing, believable and provide a fine portrayal of a truly special class. Children will be drawn in by the story’s warmth and gentle humor and will leave with a spark of inspiration, an appreciation of individual differences and a firm anti-bullying message, all underscored by the author’s note that concludes the book. (Picture book. 7-10)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-399-25078-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
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